High winds down trees, knock out power in West Alabama

Workers with Bruners Tree Service remove a tree Friday that fell on this house at 1404 Caplewood Dr. in Tuscaloosa Thursday night. Strong winds blew through West Alabama downing trees and power lines through the area Thursday evening.

Dusty Compton | Tuscaloosa News

Staff and Wire Reports

Published: Friday, January 11, 2013 at 9:13 a.m.

Last Modified: Friday, January 11, 2013 at 9:13 a.m.

Heavy winds caused some downed trees and structural damage across West Alabama on Thursday night.

Winds that reached 74 miles per hour were recorded on the roof of the Tuscaloosa County Courthouse, according to the National Weather Service.

Trees and power lines were reported down on Caplewood Drive, on U.S. Highway 43 near Tuscaloosa County Road 63, in Duncanville, Fosters and Samantha. Several businesses on the Strip also lost power.

Meteorologists said that the event is a type of gravity wave, also called a wake low.

It’s an uncommon occurrence that’s not easy to forecast.

“It typically happens on the back edge of a rain event,” said Jim Westland, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Birmingham. “As rain dissipates, there’s a disturbance in the atmosphere and it causes an imbalance in pressure. The wind is just an attempt for the atmosphere to get things back into balance.”

“Picture a boat going through the water, or what happens when you put your hand vertically into water and push it forward. Behind your hand there’s a depression. That’s the water version of a wake low,” he said.

The wake low was caused by a wave of storms that began in Mississippi.

“That big wave of thunderstorms acted as the hand. That created low pressure behind the decaying area of storms, the winds were trying to fill that isolated, but strong low pressure area. They’re not common, but they do occur. We can see conditions that are favorable for them to form, but trying to forecast when they will form is next to impossible.”

Roof damage was reported at the Boligee Post Office in Greene County, where several trees and power lines were also reported down. Fallen trees and utility lines were also reported in Sumter, Lamar and Hale counties.

Alabama Power reported Friday morning that 450 customers were without electricity, down from 17,000 homes and businesses that initially lost power.

The weather service says parts of Alabama could see as much as 5 inches of rain by early next week, and some areas could receive even more rain in small downpours.

Forecasters say the storms are from an unseasonably warm and humid air mass that is moving across the Southeast.

<p>Heavy winds caused some downed trees and structural damage across West Alabama on Thursday night.</p><p>Winds that reached 74 miles per hour were recorded on the roof of the Tuscaloosa County Courthouse, according to the National Weather Service.</p><p>Trees and power lines were reported down on Caplewood Drive, on U.S. Highway 43 near Tuscaloosa County Road 63, in Duncanville, Fosters and Samantha. Several businesses on the Strip also lost power.</p><p>Meteorologists said that the event is a type of gravity wave, also called a wake low.</p><p>It's an uncommon occurrence that's not easy to forecast.</p><p>“It typically happens on the back edge of a rain event,” said Jim Westland, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Birmingham. “As rain dissipates, there's a disturbance in the atmosphere and it causes an imbalance in pressure. The wind is just an attempt for the atmosphere to get things back into balance.”</p><p>“Picture a boat going through the water, or what happens when you put your hand vertically into water and push it forward. Behind your hand there's a depression. That's the water version of a wake low,” he said. </p><p>The wake low was caused by a wave of storms that began in Mississippi.</p><p>“That big wave of thunderstorms acted as the hand. That created low pressure behind the decaying area of storms, the winds were trying to fill that isolated, but strong low pressure area. They're not common, but they do occur. We can see conditions that are favorable for them to form, but trying to forecast when they will form is next to impossible.”</p><p>Roof damage was reported at the Boligee Post Office in Greene County, where several trees and power lines were also reported down. Fallen trees and utility lines were also reported in Sumter, Lamar and Hale counties.</p><p>Alabama Power reported Friday morning that 450 customers were without electricity, down from 17,000 homes and businesses that initially lost power.</p><p>The weather service says parts of Alabama could see as much as 5 inches of rain by early next week, and some areas could receive even more rain in small downpours.</p><p>Forecasters say the storms are from an unseasonably warm and humid air mass that is moving across the Southeast.</p>